N.J. resident charged in bird fighting ring is deported

DERBY, Conn. — Immigration officials have deported two of 19 people who were arrested when police busted up an alleged bird-fighting operation in Connecticut.

Connecticut prosecutors say 47-year-old Elito Goulart, who lived in Bridgeport, and 25-year-old Lucas Dos Santos, who lived in Newark, N.J., have been deported. They and the other defendants are all natives of Brazil.

Officials dropped charges of animal cruelty and gambling against the two men on Tuesday in Derby Superior Court.

The 19 Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Jersey residents were arrested after a July 26 raid at a Shelton home that led to the seizure of 150 birds, mostly saffron finches and canaries.